Andaman Islands...

[MuskieBait]

Drool...

[OldTimer]

Now that's top water heaven!

[MichaelAngelo]

Indeed, drool!!! I recognize the rigging of the butterfly jig they caught the dogfish on

[MuskieBait]

You're looking at the butterfly jigs...I'm looking at the $1000 Daiwa Saltiga Dogfight spinning reels they were using

Topwater heaven for sure...but also physical hell. Casting 4oz lures all day is not fun...jigging 8oz jigs all day is not fun...but if you do hook up, you also have to get them up and away from the reef FAST...that's a lot of punishment...and that's why they use some very massive drag pressure...and requires top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art, $1000 saltwater spinning reels.

It really is a very niche pursuit...but I'm glad I had a chance to experience something similar to that...big rods, big reels, big jigs...and very fast and repeated jigging action...drop a jig down to 300+ feet of water (we were fishing in 130m of water), rip and reel the jigs up 20m from bottom (about 30-40 cranks), then drop again and repeat...all day...solid 6 hours of jigging...and if you get a hook up, your arms are already tired jigging with a 30+oz reel and who knows how heavy the rod weights with a 14oz jig...and you have to fight this fish on 10+lb of drag trying to keep it off the bottom...and trying to get that fish in before the sharks get them...hanging on with all your might for 15 minutes, hanging on for dear life...hanging on since you know you spent $2000 for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity...and now it's here...and the fish is on...and this is your day...and your muscles are screaming in pain and you risk tearing muscles and ligaments...sucker for punishment I say...



Shark bit samsonfish...40-50lb fish...one single bit across the body...there are some big sharks down there!



Big gear, big fish...9000 size spinning reel spooled with 50lb braid and 80lb fluorocarbon leader...5'9" parabolic action vertical jigging rods (short rods are better for vertical jigging - less torque = less physical stress on the angler)...and 14oz knife jigs.







Worth every blood, sweat and tears though...and worth every hard earned penny to get there to catch one. Fish of a lifetime...this is where you don't want gear failure when you spent over $2000 to get there for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity...

[OldTimer]

I'd say your smile tells all.................... good stuff!

[MichaelAngelo]

(01-14-2013 01:41 PM)OldTimer Wrote:  I'd say your smile tells all.................... good stuff!

Priceless expression!

And you didn't mention the shark in the midst of it all....

[MuskieBait]

I thought I would make it relatively short and sweet...but since you mentioned...

We got to the spot and started jigging at about 9am. With the smaller boat size and fast running fish, the 14 anglers were divided into 2 groups. Each rotation would have 7 guys jigging at a time for a drift. On the 4th drift (2nd rotation), I hooked into a big fish. At the time, the fish kept taking line and I couldn't gain much. After 5 minutes, people started to gather around and some commented that it was just a small fish. They said I'm just a small guy and too weak to whip the fish up quickly.

Another 10 minutes later, I was exhausted and slowed down on my pumping and reeling. So the captain of the boat came to fight the fish for me. He lasted maybe 10 minutes, tired and had to pass the do to another person. This was after I had already taken the blunt of the first and second run the fish made and gained back some line in the initial 15 minutes. Then other two guys spent about 5 minutes each on the fish but both tired out after 5 minutes.

I really want to beat this fish and finish the fight so I went back on the rod and fought it up to the boat after another 5 minutes. Total fight time on this fish was 30 minutes between the 4 of us.

We brought up a 5' Bronze Whaler Shark from 130m of water. The hook line cut right at the surface...and I only got a picture of the shark swimming back to the depths by the time I had the camera ready.



We went back to drifting and jigging. After the 4th rotation, some guys were too tired to jig anymore. Rods were available to use so I took one of the rods to the front of the boat and kept jigging. Another 2 drifts later, I finally hooked and landed the samsonfish at about 1pm. I remember the boat was serving lunch at around noon during the 5th rotation. I didn't want to have my lunch at the time because I wanted to keep jigging.

After releasing the samsonfish, I had my lunch and called it a day. I could have kept jigging after the lunch break, but I wanted to let the other guys have their chance at a fish. The more lines in the water, the less each line has a chance to get hit.

After I landed the fish, the captain said "Well, the smallest guy on the boat landed the biggest fish of the day!" After that, no one made a comment about my physical weakness.

Not trying to brag, but this day of fishing came just 2 days AFTER these catches on a full day of fishing at a Thailand fishing venue. All the following fish were caught on the same day.









I may be small...but I'm not even remotely close to being weak when it comes to pulling up big catches.

[rich_ace_G]

Holysmokes! That's one heck of a holiday tour. Great catches and great variety.

[OldTimer]

(01-16-2013 03:19 PM)MuskieBait Wrote:  I may be small...but I'm not even remotely close to being weak when it comes to pulling up big catches.

Must be the cheesecakes..............smile.

OT

[MuskieBait]

(01-16-2013 04:33 PM)OldTimer Wrote:  

(01-16-2013 03:19 PM)MuskieBait Wrote:  I may be small...but I'm not even remotely close to being weak when it comes to pulling up big catches.

Must be the cheesecakes..............smile.

OT

And spinach